The Greens leader has spent more

on two private jet flights recently than I have spent on everything in the entire year. He added another $57,000 on commercial flights (twice the amount I had to live on) and $12,000 on car hire and a further $29,000 on COMCAR and taxi trips. On top of that he has spent $204,000 on "printing and communications". 

I have travelled in COMCARs (these are chauffeur driven cars provided to parliamentarians) and I have also been given taxi vouchers to get to meetings. When these things have happened something has been said like, "Cat, there's a COMCAR bringing in X... and we can divert it to pick you up as well" or "Cat, there's a train strike but we need you at the meeting so here's a taxi voucher."  Fair enough. They want me there. I don't have a travel allowance.

But some politicians seem to think they have the right to unlimited travel and unlimited expenses.  When it comes down to the Greens leader, a man who leads a minor party which wields far too much power, this is even more disturbing. Does he really need to do that much travel?

Zoom meetings may not be perfect but it is possible to get a lot of work done this way. I do it all the time, so do my colleagues. We all think it is a vast improvement on waiting for each other to respond to emails. I am sure there are many other people who can work the same way and do work that way. I know my BIL is only too pleased not to have to catch the "red eye express" interstate. It saves time and money. He isn't quite as happy that he sometimes needs to work until midnight because his firm is global but that is another story. Still, why catch a plane to go to a meeting if you can just go into the office and attend the meeting that way?

Actually seeing people in the flesh is good of course. Zoom meetings are not quite the same but they can be done. The "National Cabinet" met that way during Covid lock downs. So why does the Greens leader, the very person who should be working that way, choose to travel? Is it because he is only "green on the outside"? I suspect this is the case.